1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of 3-D stereo imaging and, more particularly, to producing low-cost, 3-D stereo encoded images on computer-driven printers, on photographic emulsions, and on video display terminals using a computer or other encoding device. The 3-D stereo encoded images thus produced are viewed through a separate lenticular sheet to produce a 3-D image.
2. Description of Related Art
The production of 3-D stereo representations by forming an image on a sheet bonded to a lenticular laminate is now known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,814,826 discloses a method for exposing lenticular photographic print material from multiple film negatives each representing a different parallax view of a subject to produce a 3-D stereo image.
Methods for producing hard-copy 3-D images from a computer printer are also known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,343 discloses a computer-driven printer for producing self-aligned stereo images using a special paper, which is bonded to a sheet of polarizing material. The resultant sheet is viewed through polarized glasses to reveal a 3-D image.
Known methods of producing 3-D images have several drawbacks. For example, because the underlying image and the viewing sheet must be precisely aligned, the production of these images has required that the printed image be bonded with the viewing sheet. This means that the resulting laminate is expensive to produce, and the laminate is much thicker than the underlying picture, making it cumbersome to package where multiple images in a single publication are desired, for example, in a calendar or a book. Further, special equipment and expertise are required to produce these images, making their production inconvenient for the casual user.
Where a polarizer sheet is used, special spectacles must be worn to separate right- and left-eye images. This adds expense, makes viewing more cumbersome, and limits the number of viewers that can observe the three dimensional image at one time. Such a system would be impractical for an advertising display.